Lock



June 7, 1932 E. W. NORTH l* ,86 l,579

Loox Filed June 24, 1929 Patented June?,` 1932 i UNITED .STATES EDWIN W.' NORTH,v OF BDCKFORD, ILLRTOIB, ASSGNOR TO NATIONAL LOOK MCKFOBD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE lml'ivlala'r l,o1-Fica MOK- Applioation fled June 24,

This inventionA pertains to locks or latches for kitchen cabinets, refrigerators and the like and more particularly to invisible or concealed locks or latches or such purposes.

l For convenience the invention will be described in connection with a refrigerator cabinet.

The majority of modern refrigerators, particularly those made for mechanical .refrigeration, are either made ofall metal yconstruction or metal covered wood framing. Such construction introduces a problem to prevent conduction of heat to the interior of refrigerating cabinets because most metals are very good conductors of heat. Any metal parts extending from the interior tothe exterior of a refrigerator will conduct heat, and for this reason resort is had to various expensive constructions to insulate the interior from the exterior. The edges of the door frame or of the door of a refrigerator are ordinarily provided with a felt or rubberv strip to prevent any leakage of air to or lfrom the refrigerator between the door and frame, and in case the refrigerator cabinet is made of metal or of wpod covered with metal, the metal on the inside is parted from the metal on the outside about any door opening by a strip of bakelite or oth er'insulatingmaterial to prevent direct .conduction of heat.

It is highly desirable to have the refrigerator and other cabinet hardware concealed asjmuch as possible, not only oraesthetic reasons, but also or mechanical` and other utilitarian purposes but, because such hardware including locks or latches andhinges must be made of metal, and asmetal conducts heat, it is not always practical or advisable to conceal it within the door and door frame structures of refrigerators. 'WOne of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a lock or latch and a keeper or strike peculiarly' adapted to concealed use on refrigerating Acabinets and the like particularly those made of all metal construction or made with metal covered wood frames. In this connection it will be appreciated4 that the invention is valuable for uses other than pn refrigerators. l

Another object is to provide a lock or latch 192s.- vseran No. 373,097.

of the concealed type that will be self-locking or latchlng upon closing the door to which it 1s attached.` An arrangement is provided whereby the lock or latch is normally secured 1n unlocked or. unlatched the door is open.

position whenever 1 Another object is to provide a self-lockingr v the lock or latch, but also to o en and close the door to which itis attache Many further objects as well as theadvan# tages and uses of the invention will be or should become clearly ap reciated and under'stood" 'after reading t e following descriptlon andclaims and after` viewing the drawing inwhich:

, Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a corner of a refrigerating cabinetl of the metal type showlngonorn' of the invention applied-ftheref'- Fig. 2 is a front elevation partly of a sec'- t1 on of theloc'k or latch shown in Fig. 1, the v1ew heilig taken substantially along the line 2-2 of ig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an end view of the keeper engaging portion of the lock or latch, and

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the keeper or strike illustrated inl Fig. 1. f

The refrigerating cabinet proper is en-v erally designated 2 and is formed 'of' s eet steel or other sheet `Inetal as may be desired. A portiorfof the sheet metal frame' may be formed as shown between the reference characters 3, 3 to p rovide a door framing about thedoor opening, ada ted to be closed by .door 4 hin ed at one si e of theY framing 3 in any suitab e manner.y The door 4, in the embodiment illustrated, is alsol made of sheet` steel or other suitable material.

A striker or keeper 6 is secured as by bolts,

screws or rivets 7 within a shouldered recess 8 in the .frame 3 and is preferably ofthe c011- 55 notchedout as s shoulder 37 adapted to engage behind the in. turned portion 22 of the casin struction illustrated in the drawing.. This construction includes a shape in cross section with the outer leg' 9 somewhat shorter than the inner leg 11, the

outer leg having a rounded corner 12 and a gently tapered inner surface 13. The leg 11 of the channel is divided midway of its of its operating mechanism are contained.'

The two parts of the casino 'or shell are provided with registerin anges 18 and 19 respectively and are dri led with registering apertures 21 through which bolts, screws or other securing means are passed to secure it to the sheet metal of the door 4. The casing part'17 is provided with an in-turned portion 22 for purposes to be described.

A bolt generally designated 23 is slidably or reciprocably mounted within the casin fso 7 and aid in retaining the spring;

and is normally ur ed out of the casing an toward the rear si e thereof by a sprin 24 abutting at one end in a recess 25 in the olt and at its other end against the interior of the casing or shell, a screw 26'projecting through the rear wall of the casing servin to center he bolt is also provided with a recess 27 and an aperture 28 entering recess 27, the recess and aperture receiving a dog or bolt operating member 29 rigidly secured to a stem 31 rotatably mounted inthe casin and non-rotatably mounted in the dog. e outer end of the stem 31 is rigidly secured to a handle 32 about the outer end of which an escutcheon plate or sleeve 33 is disposed for protection purposes. The stem 31 between the sheet metal of the outer side of the door` and the lock casing is surrounded by a sleeve' 34 to prevent insulation material from enterin the working parts of the lock, while a coile spring 35 surrounds the inner end of the stem 31 and is secured at one end to the stem and at its other end to the casing. The coiled spring 35 tends to return the `handle to its normal position as well as ta'king up lost motion between the associated arts.

The keeper englaging en own at 36 to provide a j when the bolt is in a retracted position. hebolt at its' interior end is provided with a projection or rib 38 serving as a pivot to Ainsure movement of the shoulder 37 behind the projection 22 under the influence 4of spring 24. The keeper or -strike engaging end ofthe bolt or lock is formed as bestpshown' in Figs.'

portion of channel of the bolt is- 2 and 3 to provide similar portions 39 bel tween which a roller 41 is mounted on a pivot pm 42. The portions 39y have inwardly and rearwardly inclined surfaces 43 and terminate in projections 44, which projections n, i

ch-annelled as shown at 46 to receive a rubg5 ber or felt gasket 47 which is secured therein in any suitable manner. The gasket 47 when the door is closed, abuts against a portion of the frame 3 above the keeper or strike, and

then against the outer leg 9 of the kee er or Vso strike to the o posite end thereof an then continues on a utting against the frame below the keeper.

In operation, the door being closed, the

handle .32 is rotated in a clock-wise direction p withdrawing .bolt from the keeper and' retracting it into the casing. As the bolt is ref tracted the shoulder 16 engages behind the inturned projection 22 and securesthe bolt in such position until the door is again shut or 9u until the bolt is otherwise tripped.. As the door is moved to closed position, ,the roller strikes the projection 15and disengages the shoulder 37 from behind the inturned portion spring 24 to 95 22 of the casing permitting the urge the bolt into the keeper. s `the bolt rides into the keeper, the roller, riding along inclinedsurface 13, urges the oor into tighter closed position. Should he bolt be released and occupy a projected position when 109 the door is o en, upon closing the door the j surfaces 43 o the portions 39 will engage the rounded shoulder 12 on the le 9 and urge the bolt` backwardly against t e spring 24 and permit it to snap into the keeper. It will 1Ds be noted that the gasket 47 does not interfere with the latch or lock and that the latch or lock does not interfere with the gasket. Fursimple and variations may be made thereln without de- 115 parting from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. In combination with a door frame providing an opening and a door adjacent sald 120 frame for closing s aid opening, a bolt Casin secured to sald door, a keeper secured to sai frame, a bolt slidably mounted in said casing, a spring normallyurging said boltgtog ward keeper engagin position,'i1eansffor .125 disenga 'ng said lbo t from saidi--f-keeper means or'securin said bolt in 'disengaged'v position, af-rotatab e element mounted Aupon said bolt. for engagement with and disengageneent from said keeper, means on saidkeeper l?? c ut may be in the normal path of said .element as said door is closed for striking said element and releasing said bolt securing means, andmeans including an inclined surface on said bolt adapted to engage a' portion of said keeper for retracting said bolt when the door is being closed and said securing means is inoperative.

2. As an article of manufacture, a lock bolt comprising a bar 'adapted to be slidably disposed in a casing, one end of said b ar being adapted to engage a keeper, said lend having an inclined guiding surface and a roller mounted adjacent s aid surface.

3. As an article of manufacture, a lock bolt comprising a substantially rectangular bar adapted to be slidably disposed in a casing, a roller mounted on one end of said bar on an axis transverse the length of the bar for rolling engagement with a keeper, and a portion of'said end adjacent said roller having a guiding surface inclined outward and backward from saidroller and toward the opposite end othe bar.

4. The combination with a recessed door V frame providing an opening and a door adjacent said frame for closing said opening,

of a concealed latch for saidv door comprising a bolt casing secured to said door Within the outer overlapping surface thereof, a keeper secured to said frame within the recess therein and having a portion thereof in the path of movement of a portion of the door, a bolt slidably mounted in said casing, a spring normally urging said bolt to- LWard keeper-engaging position, means for disengaging said bolt from said keeper,

means for securing said holt in disengagedposition, a rotatable 4element mounted upon said bolt for engagement with and disengage? ment from'sald keeper, and means on .said keeper in the normal path of said rotatable element as said door is closed for striking said element and releasing said bolt securing means. i

In witness of the foregoing I aix my signature.

EDWIN W. NORTH. g 

